The present invention relates to an air elutriation device and a method for detecting a filter element in an air elutriation device.
For the purpose of air elutriation, treatment by means of oxygen activation is utilized in addition to simple filtering. This type of air elutriation is described in DE 10 2006 008265 A1, for example. This and other types of air elutriation involve the formation of harmful gases such as ozone, for example. However, the ozone which is essential for the purification process must not escape from the appliance, since this would result in at least an odor nuisance for the user, and even physical complaints in the worst case. Activated carbon filters are used for this purpose. In this case ozone that is present in the air is trapped by the activated carbon. The activated carbon undergoes an aging process, which requires the regular replacement of the activated carbon. The replacement is performed by the user at the location where the appliance is installed. This requires partial disassembly of the appliance in order to gain access to the activated carbon. For safety reasons, in particular to prevent the escape of ozone from the appliance, it must not be possible to operate the appliance without the necessary activated carbon. Although provision can be made, as is usual, to warn against these hazards by means of suitable warnings in the user guide, this alone is not considered to be sufficient as a measure.
The prior art discloses devices in which provision is made for the user independently to perform maintenance tasks.
Thus, DE 10 2004 058 390 A1, for example, discloses a vapor extraction device comprising a filter arrangement which is situated in the housing of the vapor extraction device and at least partially covers an exhaust opening that is located in the vapor extraction device.
In order to protect the user against contact with the operating fan, provision is made for interrupting the current supply to the fan if there is no contact between the filter arrangement and the housing. For this purpose, a switching means is provided at the exhaust opening and is arranged at the contact surface between the filter arrangement and the housing. In particular, the filter arrangement comprises a filter cartridge and a frame which is made of sheet metal.